I See You See

At twenty three hundred hours
our forces engaged the insurgents
and due to good intelligence
they were taken completely by surprise

Around 11 at night
soldiers kicked in our front door
and started shooting at everyone
even my mother
killed in her sleep

Our forces did sustain a number of casualties in the pursuing actions
unexpected resistance from an area commander
coordinating insurgent activity
he and several of his bodyguards were killed during the operation

We were able to kill a few soldiers
my brother lives on the floor above
and ran down with grenades ready
throwing them as we rushed
out a side door
then my father took my brothers gun
and went back in with some others
all screaming about their love for god
I think he wanted to die then
after seeing what happened to mother

At twenty three hundred and thirty hours
an enemy convoy was sighted
which intelligence suggested was comprised of enemy forces fleeing the previous engagement
hellfire missiles were fired from a predator drone
surveillance suggests that all targets were successfully eliminated

We kept running until the sounds of
gunfire faded away
clear over the other side of the village
a goat was tugging at a rosemary bush
woman and children
and some old men
were rushing into vans best they could to escape the fighting
we helped push them down the road
until their engines started and they sped off
the last time they stayed away for three days
I hope they come back quicker this time